UK Economics Weekly EU referendum will delay rate hike, but not until 2018 The draft EU deal published last week has left the “Brexit” referendum looking likely to occur in June this year. What’s more, on the basis of the latest polls, it looks set to be a close vote. That... 5th February 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Rebalancing remains a distant prospect The composition of GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2015 highlighted the lack of progress in rebalancing the economy. And we think the near-term prospects aren’t much better. But we do believe the... 29th January 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Rate rise this year still quite possible At the end of another tumultuous week in global financial markets, one of the most notable developments in the UK has been the further drop in interest rate expectations. But even after the shaky... 22nd January 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Not a very happy new year While the start of the new year has not been a particularly happy period, we think that concerns related to growth in China and subsequent market turmoil have been overdone. This turmoil would appear... 15th January 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Will the disappointing news keep on coming? Last year ended with some fairly downbeat news on public borrowing and economic growth. But has the news flow since then been any more encouraging? So far the answer is not particularly. The start of... 8th January 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly 2016: Surviving rate rises and an EU referendum After a slight wobble in the autumn, the UK economy seems to be ending 2015 on a more positive note. Growth this year is on course to have been about 2.4%. While weaker than 2014’s 2.9% growth rate... 18th December 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Rate hike in 2016 still likely despite slide in oil prices The unexpected slide in oil prices last week, to a six-year low of about $40pb, has left most forecasters once again pulling down their CPI inflation projections and has led some to speculate that... 11th December 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Are UK bonds in for a choppy ride? There was much talk about the emerging “transatlantic divergence” last week. It now looks odds on that the US Fed will press ahead and raise interest rates later this month. Meanwhile, on the other... 4th December 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Definitely not the end of austerity The Chancellor’s surprise windfall from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) allowed him to do everything he wanted in last week’s Spending Review and Autumn Statement – and more. Indeed, it is... 27th November 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Inflation to rise more gradually in the UK than US The release of the UK and US inflation figures last week provided a reminder of why the MPC is likely to raise interest rates later than the US Fed. Inflation rates in both economies will pick up... 20th November 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Economy could be helped by quick EU referendum We have known for some time the Government’s broad objectives for its negotiations with the EU and David Cameron’s letter last week to the European Council President Donald Tusk contained little... 13th November 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Closer than it looks Downgrades to the Bank of England’s inflation projections in its Inflation Report last week were widely anticipated. Nonetheless, sterling’s tumble against the dollar and the euro after its release... 6th November 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Mr Osborne’s tax credit options Mr Osborne has various options to soften the impact of his cuts in tax credits, but all of them will cost him some money. Admittedly, this might “only” be a couple of billion for a couple of years... 30th October 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Both pros and cons of leaving EU often overstated Although he said that it would be “a bit of a yawner”, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s speech on the UK’s membership of the EU contained something for both the pro- and anti-Europe camps to... 23rd October 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Will Mr Osborne come to regret his “fiscal charter”? Chancellor George Osborne was last week able to pass his new “fiscal charter”, forcing current and future governments to run a budget surplus during “normal times”. But the Chancellor may come to... 16th October 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Is the recovery running out of steam? A raft of gloomy survey data has fuelled fears that the UK’s economic recovery is running out of steam. There are some indications that quarterly GDP growth will moderate from 0.7% in Q2 to 0.5% or so... 9th October 2015 · 1 min read
